Bunny & Alice
by Scorpiofreak
Summary: Bunnymund never thought he would see the day where he would be outmaneuvered by such an unassuming little girl. There was no denying it now; there was something very special about her. Cover art by StormeRed
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Well! Here it is! The complete history of Alice and Bunny's relationship! **

**I knew that this would turn out to be long and I didn't want to spend two or three chapters in Winter Wonderland trying to incorporate all of this. Doing several long flashbacks in one chapter while also trying to move along WW's storyline would probably end up a confusing disaster so I decided to do it this way. I hope you guys don't mind.**

**Anyways, this will be a very small series of one-shots taking place before events of both Alice games and the ROTG movie.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alice: Madness Returns or Rise of the Guardians.**

* * *

Bunnymund wasn't the kind of spirit that could easily admit that he had been wrong, nor was he the kind of spirit that could admit he had taken things too far, that he had been too callous or harsh, but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of it when he was.

He remembered that Easter Sunday, two years ago, when he and the other guardians, sans Jack and Sandy, had failed to stop Pitch's nightmares from destroying the Easter eggs. He remembered watching helplessly from the bushes as the children looked everywhere for the eggs only to be disappointed when they couldn't find a single one.

It had been absolutely heartbreaking.

And he remembered how one of the children walked straight through him like...like he didn't even exist. It hurt both, mentally and physically. Immediately, Bunny felt his strong belief dwindle, leaving him feeling weak and exhausted as his believers stopped believing in him and all the hope inside them slowly disappeared.

At the time, Bunny didn't even try to hold back his anger towards Jack for not being where he was supposed to. It enraged the gray pooka to hear that the white-haired teen had been with _Pitch Black_, instead of where he belonged; with them. It enraged him that Jack had chosen to go after his memories instead of helping the guardians fight off Pitch's nightmares, even though North _promised_ the boy that after Pitch's defeat, they would get his memories back for him.

Bunny had been so angry because he had been so_ hurt_. He was hurt by what Jack did, and just when he was starting to like the annoying little show-off!

Bunny never liked getting hurt, regardless if it was physical or emotional, and because of that, he didn't always handle certain situations like he should. In fact, Bunny was the most insensitive spirit of them all. He didn't have Tooth's loving personality, or North's optimistic outlook on life, or even Sandy's sense of understanding. He was impatient and hot-tempered. That was just the way he was.

Looking back on that day, Bunny already realized that he had been too hard on the kid. Jack had made a mistake, albeit a _huge_ mistake, but the winter spirit certainly hadn't meant for things to turn out the way they did. He was distracted and tricked by the infamous Nightmare King after all. Manipulation and mind games were Pitch's forte.

Bunny's reaction and anger had been completely justifiable, but to be perfectly honest, Jack's betrayal wasn't what pushed Bunny so far as to almost lash out physically against the boy. Truthfully, the more pessimistic side of Bunny always expected Jack's carelessness to cause something like that. So even though he was still greatly disappointed, Bunny remained shamefully unsurprised.

But when that young boy walked through him like he wasn't even there, something inside Bunny's mind broke and he was thrown back through the years, back to the last time a child phased through him because they didn't believe anymore.

Memories of a horrible night, that he had worked so hard to bury, came flooding out all at once and Bunny's biggest failure and regret flashed in front of his eyes like strobe light. He felt a horrible wave of Deja Vu wash over him and crush his lungs as he curled closer into his chest and sat heartbroken on the freshly cut, green grass, and not even the comforting touch of Tooth's hand on his shoulder could ease the Easter Bunny's pain.

_'They don't see me...they don't see me...'_

Just like that cold November night when _she_ didn't see him.

* * *

**AN: So, what do you think? Fantastic or horrible? There is no in between. Just kidding, but seriously, let me know what you think! I'm horrible at introduction so hopefully this didn't turn out too badly.**

**And for those of you who are worried that none of this will be mentioned and shown in Winter Wonderland, please don't be. There will be heart-felt and sentimental flashbacks in Winter W. This little side story just allows me to write unrestricted and without worry of having to successfully incorporate tons of flashback material with the rest of Winter Wonderland's storyline.**

**Please review!**

**~Scorpiofreak~**


	2. First Easter Pt 1

**AN: Well, here's chapter one. This is part one of Bunny and Alice's first meeting. Originally, I was going to include their entire first meeting in the chapter but I kind of like the ending line in this one and I wanted to leave it on that note.**

**Part two should be coming either tomorrow or the next day. This one-shot series is suppose to be short so it shouldn't take me that long to update and finish it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or Alice: Madness Returns.**

* * *

_Easter Sunday_, _1861_

Bunnymund stumbled across Alice completely by accident that first Easter.

In fact, Bunny was surprised he had noticed her at all. His mind had been solely focused on his usual Easter Sunday mental checklist. While he was busy hiding eggs, he was also busy sorting out different time zones, weather reports, and geographic locations in his head.

Judging by his mental map of the world, Bunny had just arrived in a rather secluded housing area on the outskirts of Oxford, England. There were plenty of homes with children in the general area but Bunny would only hide eggs in the yards with small toddlers. The rest of eggs were to be hidden around the local park for the scheduled Easter egg hunt later that day for the older children.

Surprisingly enough, Bunny found himself moving ahead of schedule that Easter. Perhaps that was because he had yet to run into the current bane of his existence; Jack Frost. Bunny briefly wondered where the annoying little sprite was but he decided to just appreciate the lack of unseasonal weather while it lasted. No doubt he would run into Frost when he moved on to the States.

He had been idly hopping towards the park when a faint sound caught his sensitive rabbit ears. The pooka stopped in his tracks and quickly shifted his ears, trying to catch the sound again. When he finally did, he recognized it instantly. He has been a legendary guardian for enough years to be able to easily distinguish the distinct sound of a sobbing child.

Unsure if the child was hurt or not, Bunny tightened his grip on his basket of eggs and quickly searched the surrounding area, his desire to keep up with his Easter duties drowned out by instinctual concern. His tall ears shifted and twitched in order to get a better idea of which direction he needed to go. He raised his nose to the sky and took in the scents around him, trying to pinpoint any unusual ones among the smell of fresh grass and blooming flowers.

It didn't take long for Bunny to find the source of the crying. His investigation eventually led him to a bench in a more secluded part of Hyde Park.

Sitting on the bench was a small, dark-haired girl and she was crying into her tiny hands.

A swift once-over told Bunny that the girl was physically unharmed, but she was covered in what looked like blue finger paint. He was also relieved to know, judging by her clothes and healthy plumpness in her cheeks, that she wasn't a beggar child. Seeing those children always felt like a punch to the gut for Bunny because he knew that there wasn't much he could do for them other than make sure they had the best Easter Sundays ever. Make sure they had hope.

No, this girl was wearing a light green dress with a matching ribbon in her dark hair. The dress looked like it was a hand-me-down, but still in relatively good condition...well, except for the paint that stained it. Now it was ruined.

Bunny looked to see if the girl's parents were around but found nobody. He turned his gaze back to the child and his shoulders slumped a little at the sight of her. Using his many years of guardian expertise, Bunny deduced that she was probably a victim of bullying. Unless the girl somehow managed to get her dress almost completely soaked with paint all by herself, which he seriously doubted. Children could get themselves messy, but not that messy.

_'Poor little buggar,'_ Bunny thought to himself while he fished around in his basket for some of his hand-painted eggs. The hand painted eggs were always the most beautifully decorated ones because Bunny tended to be a perfectionist when it came to his work. If he could have his way, all the Easter eggs would be hand painted, but unfortunately, that would take way too much time, and eggs were perishable. So Bunny's special, hand-painted eggs were in short supply and were given to the children, who he believed, really needed some Spring joy.

After a few moments of searching, Bunny pulled out three, powder blue eggs with intricate green swirls on them, the same color as the girl's dress. He hesitated briefly, unsure if the girl would see him, before he quietly hopped towards the bench. Bunny planned on just leaving the eggs next to her before retreating back into the bushes, but when he reached over to put the eggs in place, his shadow feel over her. Immediately the girl noticed the new presence.

When her little head lifted up from her hands, Bunny froze when two big, clover green eyes locked in on his furry mug.

Oh yeah, she could _definitely_ see him.

For several seconds, they just stared at each other. Bunny seemed to be more surprised than the girl as he stood there, slack-jawed and speechless like an idiot. The girl's eyes only widened for a fraction of a second before they went back to normal and she just looked at him passively like encountering a six-foot bunny rabbit was an everyday occurrence for her.

The trance the two seemed to be in broke when the girl sniffled and reached up a tiny hand to wipe away the tears on her round cheeks. Bunny blinked out of his stupor and closed his mouth. He didn't know why he was so surprised to find out that she could see him; tons of children in that part of the world believed in the Easter Bunny.

"Uhh, hey there...little...one," Bunny said lamely. Crikey, he was bit more rusty than he thought. "Are you alright there?"

The girl didn't respond. She just continued to look up at him with her big, doe eyes. Her expression was blank but Bunny could detect a tiny glimmer of curiosity, deep within her emerald irises.

At a loss of what to do, Bunny pulled himself back up to his full height. The one paw that wasn't holding a basket, flexed anxiously every second he didn't receive a response from the girl.

He turned his head and looked around again for the kid's parents. "Are your mother and father nearby?"

Again, no response.

"It's not a good idea for a little girl to be sittin' here all alone like this," Bunny lightly scolded while his furry face grew stern. "You should really be with your parents, kid."

Silence.

The impatient pooka nearly groaned in frustration. He really didn't have time for this. He needed to move on soon, but of course, Bunny couldn't -_wouldn't_ allow himself to leave until he knew the girl would be safe when he did.

If only the little wallaby would help make this much easier on him by actually answer his questions! What was the matter with this kid? Why was she just staring at him? "Do you even know who I am, sheila? I'm the Easter Bunny! Haven't you ever heard of the Easter Bunny before?"

His last question finally caused the girl to do something other than stare, but her response wasn't what Bunny expected at all and it completely threw him off guard.

She shook her head no. She _didn't_ know who he was.

Bunny's ears perked up to full height at her silent response before they drooped back down again in confusion. "Wait, you haven't? Then how can you...see me?"

That last part came out almost in a whisper and was said more to himself. Bunny's question about whether or not the girl knew who the Easter Bunny was had been rhetorical. Of course he automatically assumed she did since she could see him, but apparently, according to her, she had never heard of the Easter Bunny before.

That was really strange but he couldn't let himself dwell to long on it. If it had been any other normal Sunday, Bunny would've taken the time to figure out how the girl could see him when she didn't believe him, but it wasn't a normal Sunday; it was _Easter_ Sunday. He needed to hide his eggs and move on before he fell too far behind his carefully mapped out schedule.

"Nevermind," Bunny shook his head. "Look, kid. Are you alright?"

To his relief, the girl nodded her head. Preferably, Bunny would rather have her physically speak and tell him that she was alright, that way he knew for sure the girl wasn't just nodding yes because that's what she thought he wanted to hear, but he decided not to press his luck with her gestures. She said she was fine, and other than sporting a paint-stained dress, she looked fine too.

"Are your parents around?"

For a moment, the girl's emerald eyes rolled up towards the clear sky as if she had to think real hard on Bunny's question but eventually, she replied back with another nod.

"Good," Bunny mumbled to himself as he picked up the three, forgotten Easter eggs that he didn't even realize he had dropped, and held them out for the girl to take. "It looked like to me that you were havin' a bit of a sour day, so I uh, I thought I'd give if you a few of these to help cheer you up. Here, take 'em."

She hesitated at first before looking up at him with a curious glance but when Bunny gave her a reassuring smile and urged the eggs towards her again, the girl reached out and took them. She had a little difficulty holding all three eggs in her small arms. At one point she nearly dropped one but she saw the fall coming and quickly gripped the egg before it could slip out of her grasp. Bunny wanted laugh out loud at the suddenly willful expression that came about the girl's tiny face. He would even go so far as to think that the little squirt looked kind of cute with her determined eyes and the tip of her pink tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in concentration.

"Well aren't you just as cute as a bloody button," Bunny murmured to himself while shaking his head in amusement. Once all three eggs were properly arranged in her arms, the girl looked back up at Bunny as if to say 'what now?'. "Good job, lil' mate. Now why don't you go find your parents and show 'em your Easter eggs. I need to be moseying along now. Got a lot of eggs to hide today."

With one last smile, Bunny picked up his egg basket and turned to walk away from the girl. He was acutely aware of her stare on the back of his furry neck but he brushed it off. He needed to hide his eggs before the Hyde Park Easter egg hunt started. The girl would probably seek out her parents once he was gone.

Once he reached the nearby tree line, several yards away from the park bench, Bunny turned back around one last time to see the dark-haired girl still sitting on top of it, blinking at him with an expressionless face. The pooka let out a huff before giving the staring girl a farewell salute and disappeared back into the shadows of the thick forest.

When the Easter Bunny was completely out of sight, the little girl looked away from the tree line and down at the beautifully decorated eggs in her arms.

"Alice!"

The girl almost jumped at the sound of her name and turned her head towards the opposite direction the Easter Bunny departed from. Approaching the girl's park bench was another girl, much older than her, with the same dark hair and green eyes as herself. She had an agitated expression on her youthful face and she walked with brisk strides as she spotted the younger girl sitting on the bench.

"Alice, come here this instant," The older girl demanded firmly. She didn't seem to be very mad at her, just extremely annoyed.

Heeding her older sister's command, Alice tightened her grip on her eggs and carefully climbed down from the bench. Once both feet were on solid ground again, she slowly walked over to her sister, Elizabeth.

Once Alice drew close enough, Lizzie gave her sister a quick once over with her eyes and tsked loudly when she saw the blue paint covering Alice's lovely green party dress. "Mother is going to have such a fit when she gets an eyeful of you, Alice Liddell. Not only did you run off in the middle of your play date with Ms. Cartwright's daughter, you also managed to get paint all over your nice dress! Nanny is not going to enjoy washing that."

Alice almost felt the need to tell her sister that she didn't pour the blue paint on herself, Ms. Cartwright's dreadful daughter Penelope did because Alice refused to play any of the blonde girl's ridiculous games. However, she decided that it really wasn't worth the trouble. It was going to be Alice's fault either way; things were always her fault it seemed.

Without a word, Alice pulled one of her eggs from her arms and held it up for Lizzie to see.

"Alice, where did you get those? The Easter Egg hunt doesn't start until high Noon," Lizzie questioned, but before she could scold Alice on taking Easter eggs before the festivities could even start, the older girl looked more closely at the egg in her sister's hand and gasped. "Oh my goodness! That egg is positively gorgeous! I've never seen an egg painted in such a way. Where did you get it, Alice?"

"A rabbit gave it to me," Alice said in her usual quiet voice.

Lizzie barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes and fight the smile that threatened to invade her face as she regarded her little sister with another shake of her head. Of course Alice couldn't just tell her that she found the eggs on the ground. There always had to be some sort of unusual and fantastical creature involved. Though Lizzie supposed she shouldn't have been very surprise about Alice's claim, what with the famous Easter Bunny being on every child's mind today.

It was somewhat strange though, Lizzie couldn't recall ever telling Alice about the Easter Bunny. This was the first Easter egg hunt that Alice was old enough to participate in. Papa was planning on telling her stories about the Easter Bunny at lunch, after her play date. That way the fictional icon would be fresh in Alice's mind as she hunted for Easter eggs with the other children.

Lizzie gently took the egg from Alice's hand before crouching down closer to the ground. "What kind of rabbit, Alice? Was it the Easter Bunny perhaps?"

Alice nodded her little head.

"Oh, and I suppose he was small and white with a top hat and pocket watch, just like the little white rabbit from your dreams," Lizzie smiled, playing along with Alice's make-believe tales like she always did.

"No," Alice protested immediately. "He was gray and tall and he stood up straight like a regular person, Lizzie. He also talked in a very peculeer way."

"It's pronounced 'peculiar', Alice," Lizzie corrected with a light laugh as she hoisted the small girl from the ground and on to her hip. "Well, when Papa comes home for lunch, I'm sure you can show him how the Easter Bunny talks and he'll be able to tell you where he is from."

Alice simply nodded her head in response. She liked the sound of that idea very much. Papa always knew such interesting things about the world.

"Is Papa going to be there when we get home?"

"I don't think so, Alice. He'll be a bit late. He's meeting with some very important men at the university today."

"Is he in trouble?"

"Oh no, he's not in trouble. They're just there to discuss different matters pertaining to the school campus."

"Sounds positively boring."

Lizzie laughed at Alice's deadpanned remark. "I'm sure it is, Alice. Now, let's head home shall we? We need to get you cleaned up as soon as possible, before the egg hunt starts."

Instead of answering, Alice just rested her head on her sister's shoulder and tightened her grip on her eggs. She didn't want to go to the Easter egg hunt. It wasn't going to be any fun for her. The other neighborhood children would be there and they didn't seem to fancy Alice very much. They called her names and whispered things about her behind her back. One boy even pulled her hair sometimes! He said it was the same color as the ugly mud on the ground.

No, Alice dreaded going to the Easter egg hunt. The children were nasty and no matter how much she tried, she always ended up playing by herself, or with her sister. She didn't really mind though, being alone allowed her to travel to her Wonderland more often and Alice _always_ had fun when she was there.

And besides, why would she need to go on an Easter egg hunt and look for eggs when she just received three of the Easter Bunny's best painted eggs straight from his very own basket?

* * *

**AN: I had to include Lizzie in this chapter. Had to. She doesn't get enough love. And I hope I did alright with little Alice. I hope she was in character!**

**I like the idea of Alice being able to see Bunny even though she didn't believe. In this chapter, Alice is four years old (soon to be five) and I think children of that age can naturally see things old children and adults can't because they're minds are still fresh and indiscriminately open. And if you pair that with Alice's unprecedented imagination, she could easily see a mystical spirit regardless if she believes or not. Plus, it makes her all the more special and interesting to Bunnymund which is what keeps him coming back to her in the beginning of their relationship, as you will see in the next chapter.**

**~Scorpiofreak~**


	3. First Easter Pt 2

**AN: Sorry this took so long to update. My Bunny and Alice muse crapped out on me. Originally, this was suppose to be part of chapter one but I liked the note chapter one ended on, so I decided to break this up into another chapter.**

**Also, did anyone notice my new story cover? Isn't it just the most fantastic thing ever? It was done by one of my Tumblr buddies; StormeRed!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ROTG and AMR.**

* * *

_Easter Sunday, 1861_

Bunny really didn't know what had possessed him to return to Hyde Park after he had finished with the rest of his egg deliveries. He really didn't.

Maybe it was because he had been, more or less, in the neighborhood when he was on his way back to the Warren and maybe he just wanted to make sure that oddball of a girl hadn't left his beautifully, hand painted Easter eggs on that park bench like the weird child she was. He worked hard on those eggs and didn't want them to go to waste.

It was late at night by the time Bunny arrived at the park, just a little past ten o'clock if his internal clock was wired correctly. The park was relatively empty except for the occasional couple taking a romantic, late-night stroll, or a police office leisurely patrolling along the abandoned dirt paths, whistling a light tune to help fill the silence and make a solitary job feel just a little less lonesome.

Raising his nose to the dark sky and taking in a deep breath of the night-time air, Bunny tried to pick up his previous scent from earlier that day so he could navigate his way back to the park bench easier in the dark. Once he found it, he followed it towards the small playground and beyond, all the way to the outskirts of park. All the while, mumbling to himself under his breath.

What was he even doing here? He should be back in his warm warren, sleeping off his Easter Sunday high, not mucking about in some random park millions of miles from his home just so he could make sure his precious eggs weren't left abandoned. Of course he didn't want to run into the infuriating little girl again, with her wide eyes and mute nature. Because of her, Bunny had to triple his pace just to make sure he didn't fall behind schedule. And even if Bunny _wanted_ to see her again, why would he come back to the park during the middle of the night? That just made no sense. There was no way the girl would still be there, sitting on the park bench, quiet as death.

As the park bench finally came into view, Bunny stopped dead in his tracks. His jaw nearly hit the ground when he squinted through the darkness and caught sight of the tiny figure sitting on top of it, the size and shape of it utterly recognizable even at night, but just in case his mind was playing a cruel trick on him, Bunny had to rub his eyes twice, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

There she was, _still_ sitting there.

The little, dark-haired girl.

She was sitting on the park bench just like before except she was wearing a different dress, another hand-me-down, in gray this time. She patiently sat on the bench with her hands in her lap and her tiny legs swinging over the side. Normally, Bunny wouldn't have found such an image strange if it hadn't been _the middle of the night._ She couldn't have been more than four or five and she was sitting _alone_ in a potentially dangerous park, late at night.

Where were this kid's parents?!

Throwing all caution to the wind, Bunny fell to all fours and quickly hopped over to the little girl. As he approached, the girl's head turned towards him and her green eyes lit up brightly when she saw him. For a split second, it looked as if she was going to say something but Bunny didn't stop to find out, being the brash spirit that he was.

"What in the world are you doin', kid!?" Bunny demanded as soon as he reached her. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be out here?"

Just like before, the girl didn't do anything except look up at him with piercing eyes and a blank expression. Maybe the situation wouldn't be as infuriating for Bunny if the girl would only just speak every once in a while. It didn't even have to be a full sentence. Just one word, couldn't she just say one word?

Apparently not. She remained silent.

Curving his frustration by rolling pent-up tension off of his shoulders, Bunny let out a pained groan before pulling back to his full height. He crossed his arms and looked down at the girl with a stern expression. It was silent for several minutes on both ends as Bunny regarded the girl almost as if she was some rare, unique species of animal he had yet to come across in his long lifetime.

"Get up, kid," The exhausted pooka finally said. He wasn't even going to bother with questions, the girl wouldn't answer them anyways.

When the girl didn't move, Bunny bit back a sharp remark and instead said, "I'm takin' you home."

The little girl shifted her gaze away from the pooka's and stared straight ahead at the darkness around them before letting out a quiet sigh of her own. Then, she carefully climbed down from the bench without any sign of protest.

"Well, alright then," Bunny coughed once to mask his surprise towards the girl's compliance. "Where do ya live?"

The girl pointed with a small hand in the opposite direction Bunny came from as if that was all the information he needed.

"Uh, okay," Bunny mumbled before lowering her raised arm with his paw and gently coaxing her in that direction. "Lead the way then, sheila."

At that, the girl's eyes lit up with surprise and excitement. Nobody _ever_ let's Alice lead.

With a new sense of light and a little skip in her step, the girl twisted on her heel and begun the long trek back home with a contentious Easter Bunny following close behind.

~O~

The walk to the girl's house had been farther than Bunny thought it would be. So far that the pooka was surprised the girl was able to make her way to the park on her own, at night no less.

The unlikely pair weaved through streets, passed over a small bridge or two, and arrived at the girl's neighborhood without incident. The girl wasn't stopped by any passing Oxford patrons, policemen included, which only served to irritate Bunny more. Surely, a small child walking the streets alone at night would attract attention, but the two were left alone as they walked. He angrily chalked it up to carelessness of the police force and pure apathy from the patrons.

The house the girl led Bunny to was the very last one on the block. It was a tall, two-story home with a large yard and had a fair amount of trees surrounding it, making it a bit more secluded than the other houses in the neighborhood. All was quiet and every visible window depicted darkness within it. When the pair reached the house, Bunny moved towards the front porch but when a small hand found itself wrapped around one of Bunny's hanging paws, the pooka recoiled from the touch out of pure reflex. He almost flinched at how callous that made him looked, pulling away from the girl like she was poison. Thankfully, the girl didn't seem to take notice. She just looked up at him for a second before she veered away from him and walked around the side of the house.

Puzzled, Bunny didn't say anything as he followed the girl as she disappeared around the corner. When he caught up to her, she was standing under an open window on the second floor. She was looking up at it blankly as if she was contemplating something deeply.

"It that your bedroom?" Bunny asked, coming to stand behind her with his arms crossed and his head turned upwards just like her. She nodded.

"How'd you get out?"

The girl stepped up to the back wall of her home, grabbing hold of the rose vines that covered it. When she moved to hoist herself up and climb the wall, Bunny quickly jumped forward and grabbed her around her middle.

"Whoa there, half-pint," Bunny chided. He held her in the air at arm's length -she practically weighed nothing- and turned her around. "No need for that, we'll use the front door."

He placed the girl back on the ground and after a few seconds of hesitation, Bunny reached out and grabbed her hand. It was so small that even his paw swallowed it, warming the pale skin instantly and reminding the pooka that it was getting colder outside.

Aiming to get the kid back inside and into her bed before she caught a cold, Bunny led her back to the front porch of her house.

Bunny could feel the girl's eyes trained intensely on him as he reached behind his shoulder and pulled out a tiny lock picking kit from his boomerang pouch -in case of emergencies- after he tried to the front door to see if it was locked. She watched curiously as he crouched down in front of the door's lock and set to work with picking it. In a matter of seconds, the lock made a satisfying click and the door creaked open leaving Bunny feeling a bit prideful when the girl looked up at him in awe. He then ushered the girl inside before following, locking the door again behind them.

The house was just as dark inside as it was outside. It was well furnished with a nice cozy atmosphere to it, sort of like North's domain after workshop hours when all the yetis and elves cleared out.

Bunny's forest green eyes quickly scanned the foyer for any signs of life but found nothing except the distant ticking of a grandfather clock and a small candlelight glowing from somewhere in the second floor hallway.

"Alright," Bunny whispered, leaning towards the ground so he was level with the girl. "Are your parents asleep?"

The girl nodded.

"We're going to avoid wakin' them, so we have to be super quiet, okay?"

Again, the girl nodded as she raised a finger to her lips.

"Good, now come on-" Bunny nearly jumped five feet in the air when he suddenly felt something brush up against one of his hind legs. "Crikey! What the bloody hell was that?!"

Ears at full height and senses on high alert, Bunny searched the ground around him for what ever it was that startled him. He saw something moving around but it was too dark for even his enhanced eyesight to pick up.

Not at all alarmed like her companion, the girl walked over to him and bent over to pick something up off the ground. When she pulled back up, she had something black and furry in her tiny arms. Bunny leaned down to get a better look when the thing let out a loud hiss that made the gray pooka jump back. Bunny then found himself under the piercing, yellow gaze of a small black cat. Not small enough to be a kitten but not big enough to be full grown yet. It looked up at him with its ears bent back in warning.

Not wanting to be seen as intimidated by a mangy fur ball not even half his size, Bunny sent the cat his own glare with his ears flattened back.

"Cute," Bunny sniffed once sarcastically, curling his pink nose up in contempt. "Come on."

Ignoring the still glaring cat, Bunny quietly led the little girl up the nearby staircase to the second floor and through a short hallway. To the left of the hallway was one solitary door that Bunny guessed was the parents' room, while to the right there were two doors, both with name plates on them. The first door had the name "Elizabeth" printed across its middle, but the little girl didn't stop.

When the pair came to the last door with a dimly lit lamp on a small table, Bunny bent over to read the name plate.

"So you name is Alice, huh?" Bunny whispered as he looked down at the girl.

Alice just shrugged before readjusting her grip on her cat and pushed her way into her room. She put the cat on the floor and walked over to her bed, almost tripping on the hem of her dress as she went. It took a little maneuvering but Alice was able to climb on to the mattress with quite an impressive leap for someone so small.

"Here, don't forget your vulture," Bunny grumbled, quickly snatching the bad-tempered feline from the floor and tossing it unceremoniously on the bed before it had a chance to claw him. The thing yowled indignantly and hissed before burying itself under Alice's bed quilt, not that Bunny cared. He hated those things, almost as much as he hated dogs.

As Bunny wiped his paws on the fur of his chest, Alice fixed her blankets and laid back against her pillow where she quietly watched the Easter Bunny mumbled under his breath.

"Alright then," Bunny said somewhat awkwardly, not really sure what to say next. He was horrible at goodbyes. "I guess I should be goin' now."

Despite feeling immensely disappointed, Alice just nodded in understanding. Delivering eggs around the world must be hard work, even for a fast creature like the Easter Bunny. He was probably very tired by now, but of course that didn't stop Alice from leaving her house to go see if he would return to the park. She wouldn't call what she did _sneaking out_ since it was past ten and her parents were out cold just like every night, so it had been easy for Alice to exit the house undetected.

"And you're not going to do something like this again, are you?" Bunny asked sternly.

Alice shook her head. Climbing down the side of the house once had been more than enough. She nearly slipped and fell three times!

"Good," Bunny nodded curtly before walking over to her open bedroom window. Right before he jumped out of it, he turned towards the girl for the last time with a smile. "I guess I'll see ya around, kid."

And with that, Bunny slipped out of the window and landed expertly on his feet. Immediately, he kicked off the ground into a swift run towards the tree line, and just like at the park, he stopped and looked back again to find the girl at her window, watching. Their green eyes seemed to lock even from a distance, and for a split second, Bunny felt a strange foreboding twinge deep within his chest, almost like Deja Vu, but not quite. It was then that the pooka remembered how the little girl was able to see him even though she claimed to have never heard of him before. That in itself was nearly beyond Bunny's comprehension.

He remembered once hearing from Tooth -or maybe it had been North?- about special individuals out there in the mortal world that could just see things others couldn't, regardless if they believed or not, but Bunny has never come across one himself.

Although, Bunny couldn't but wonder if he just did. Or maybe he was just thinking too deeply into things. Alice couldn't have been more than four or five, barely past toddlerhood. Kids of those ages had a habit of subconsciously believing in things that they might've heard of only once but never made any real note of it.

Children were weird sometimes, especially the one Bunny had encountered that Easter Sunday, so he decided to let his questions go for now as he made his way back to his warren, he was beyond exhausted.

If he didn't completely forget, Bunny told himself he would bring it up with Sandy next time he had a chance to speak with the dreamsand spirit.

* * *

**AN: Alice is four in this chapter, just about to turn five, so this isn't the last time Bunny sees her. Alice was seven when the fire happened.**

**The black cat is, of course, Alice's cat, Dinah. And also, it's quoted by Lizzie in the AMR game that after ten o'clock, Alice's parents practically fall unconscious, so I decided it would nice to throw that in. Also along with the rose vines on the side of the house. **

**Sorry for any mistakes! I kind of rushed the editing on this one and I didn't get the chance to have one of my beta readers look over it. If you spot a mistake, let me know in a review.**

**Hope you enjoyed reading! Don't forget to review people!**

**~Scorpiofreak~**


End file.
